Together Trust Students win Manchester Histories award

Young people from the Together Trust have won a prestigious award for their work delving into the charity’s history.

The young people from Ashcroft School, Inscape House School and Bridge College won the Best School Histories Award at the Manchester Histories Awards ceremony held earlier this month.

Along with specialist education, the Together Trust offers community and residential care and fostering to over 2,300 young people with learning difficulties, physical disabilities and complex needs, in the North West each year.

The project saw young people from the education services commemorate the lives of 400 former beneficiaries who served in the First World War with a display of handmade poppies at their Cheadle campus.

The names of each soldier were etched into a poppy in the display and the charity also produced a roll of honour on their website, and a radio piece paying tribute to each veteran, encouraging people to remember their loved ones who lost their life in the war.

Manchester Histories offer awards for school and community histories projects, recognising the excellent work that is being done to uncover, celebrate and preserve Greater Manchester’s histories and heritage.

Liz Sykes, Records, Archives and Information Manager at the Together Trust said, “We are thrilled to have won the award, the aim of the project was to bring together young people from across the charity’s educational services. They were able to contribute to a project which would develop their understanding of the Together Trust’s history and to raise awareness in the local community.”

Around 250 pupils supported by the Together Trust took part in the project which was produced for Remembrance Sunday 2014, aiming to create a sense of empathy and understanding for past pupils who had lived in the charity’s residential homes in a creative and engaging way.

Eileen Sheerin, Head Teacher at Ashcroft School, added, “This fantastic project has given our students a greater understanding of the history of World War One and allowed them to develop skills in research techniques and performance skills.”

For more information on the Together Trust and their specialist educational services please visit www.togethertrust.org.uk.

Photo credit: Drew Forsyth/Manchester Histories. From left to right, Eileen Sheerin (Head Teacher at Ashcroft School), Richard Stevens (Deputy Head Teacher at Ashcroft School), Barbara Ormerod (Teacher at Aschroft School), Paul Hine (Freelance Drama Practitioner), Macauley (Ashcroft School student) and Rob Higginson (from Manchester Histories Schools’ Award sponsors, Laing O’Rourke).